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Lisa was pretty much the worst roommate ever, except for the fact that she'd always look after Chaeyoung in the mornings.

 

Park Chaeyoung and Lalisa Manoban seemed like the two most obvious people who weren’t fit to be roommates. And frankly, Chaeyoung would’ve preferred living alone in her own apartment.

 

But after Jennie moved out to live with her girlfriend, Kim Jisoo, she needed someone to help pay the rent and eventually went on Craigslist to put out an ad for “a quiet and responsible roommate, who will help with the chores and chip in for our groceries.”

 

Lisa had answered first, and (to Chaeyoung’s initial annoyance) she was none of those things. Mostly because:

 

1. She plays her music in the middle of the night—on max volume—with each track having little to no coordination in terms of genres.  One minute, Chaeyoung would be hearing Ariana Grande. Then in the next, it’s Pitbull saying “Mr. Worldwide” to the first few seconds of a dance-pop song. And the Australian would be forced to sleep with a pillow over her head for most of the night.

 

2. She spent half the time running on a sugar-type of high that made her bounce around the apartment and dance wildly (a hazard issue, Chaeyoung notes with exasperation) in her pajamas, which consisted of just an oversized tee and a pair of very tight, very revealing boy shorts that exposed her long legs.

 

3. She never seems to put away her shoes properly on the little rack by their front door, so Chaeyoung has learned to enter their shared apartment with caution. Especially after she had almost tripped on a beaten pair of Adidas, like… four consecutive times in a row.

 

4. She usually ends up leaving a mess in the living room. Particularly by just tossing her coats and jackets all over the couch or on Chaeyoung’s favorite loveseat, despite a perfectly good coat rack standing in the foyer.

 

5. And while she was perfectly fine with getting their groceries and splitting on it, they were 90% snacks and chocolate with barely anything that has some real nutritional value. Hence, most of their dinners being takeout, or whatever reheatable meal Chaeyoung grabbed from the convenience store on her way home.

 

To put it simply, Lisa was the complete opposite of what Chaeyoung had been hoping for. And in the early days of their arrangement, she regularly came very, very close to throwing the eccentric Thai out. But for some reason, she never did… and then this strange thing started happening.

 

See, Chaeyoung works as a junior art director for a nearby design firm. It paid good and didn’t require her to work such long hours, but she was often required to come in at 8AM on certain days. Especially when she’s assigned to important projects for big-name companies or brands. That, combined with the commute going to and from, meant that Chaeyoung needed to be up at around six.

 

After the first month having Lisa as her new roommate, the Australian began waking up to the smell of freshly-made coffee wafting in from the kitchen and the sound of something sizzling on the stove. She’d then walk into the kitchen and find Lisa standing casually before the stove. Frying up some bacon and eggs on the tiny skillet (Chaeyoung had gotten her to buy actual groceries after a long, exhausting talk. Lisa has the attention span of a millennial teen, but at least she obliged without any complaint), or toasting waffles and preparing omelets.

 

Occasionally, Lisa would even make French crepes with a fancy fruit salad inside and a generous dusting of powdered sugar on top. The dishes always looking like they’ve come straight out of a professional restaurant, and not from the small box of a stove in their modest, two-bedroom apartment.

 

Chaeyoung never normally took the time to make herself breakfast (although Jennie, when they were still living together, would often toast a few pieces of bread for her to snack on the way out) and just drank a cup of instant coffee before leaving. But Lisa always made enough for two, so she felt bad refusing and began eating with her as a form of respect. Even if she was in a hurry at times.

 

(It wasn’t exactly a problem though. Because Lisa turned out to be an amazing cook, and Chaeyoung would eventually clean off her entire plate after taking the first bite of each delicious masterpiece.)

 

“Don’t you think that it’s a little too early to be cooking this much?” Chaeyoung had questioned one morning, when Lisa handed her a plate of breakfast sausages with some hash browns and eggs.

 

“Gotta be at the studio early today, and I need some decent food as an energy source.” Lisa replied to her with a shrug and a tired smile.

 

The Thai works as a choreographer for a well-known dance academy in the district. And unlike Chaeyoung, her work hours varied and would even stretch late into the evening. She’d handle a lot of classes under her schedule, though her free time would be usually spent on polishing dance steps or making a new choreography from scratch.

 

But as far as Chaeyoung knew from their first time meeting each other, Lisa didn’t have any classes before 10AM at the very least.

 

(She never really elaborated on why she had to be up so early, and Chaeyoung opted not to press the topic.)

 

They didn’t talk much during meals, but would trade a few words and make simple conversation of what’s going on in their lives. Lisa would then crack a joke or two, which usually had Chaeyoung giggling on her seat before she left to the subway station with a smile on her face. The Australian still tries to get mad at Lisa when she doesn’t do her laundry or leaves her dishes piling up in the sink—but it was difficult. Chaeyoung had always been independent since moving to South Korea by herself, so she never realized how lonely it was until there was someone for her to be with.

 

And no matter how much crap she has to deal with sometimes, Chaeyoung wanted to keep Lisa around for as long as possible.

 

One day, Chaeyoung woke up to a text from Jennie that was sent just after she had gone to sleep the previous night. The older girl made plans to come downtown and visit for the weekend, Jisoo included, and have a sleepover with the four of them watching movies and binging on snacks that Lisa bought.

 

Chaeyoung had been really excited to catch up with her unnies and take some time off work. But then Jennie’s message said that they would have to put a raincheck on it, because she and Jisoo needed to attend some family wedding that they’ve both forgotten about.

 

Trying to suppress her disappointment, Chaeyoung texted back. Saying how it’s fine and to have a good time at the wedding, though she felt pretty sad that they’ll have to reschedule the sleepover on a different date. It must’ve showed on her face somehow, since Lisa took notice as soon as she entered the kitchen. The Thai looked up from where she was adding the finishing touches to the French toast with homemade blueberry sauce and quickly jogged over to comfort her roommate.

 

“Chae? What’s wrong?” Lisa asked upon noting the somber cloud hanging over her head, a hand already resting on her shoulder as she gave it a comforting squeeze.

 

Chaeyoung just shrugged. “It’s nothing… don’t worry about me.” She said through a watery smile. “You can go ahead and finish up breakfast. I’ll just wait at the table.”

 

Although slightly unconvinced, Lisa goes back to working on their toast. And Chaeyoung finds herself missing the gentle touch of her hand.

 

After a moment, Lisa throws her a concerned look and asked “Are you sure? ‘Cuz if not, you can always talk to me. I’ll listen and try to help, if ever.”

 

It was a tempting offer, but…

 

“No, no. It’s fine. You have work, remember?” She replies with a sigh and sat down on her usual seat.

 

“Not until ten. And even then, we usually spend a few minutes just playing around in the studio. But mostly to let loose and stuff.” Lisa jests, before chugging down the rest of her coffee and pouring herself another cup. “Besides, we don’t even start until lunchtime on most days.”

 

Chaeyoung tries to work through this information in her head. She got so preoccupied with it, that she didn't even realize that her silent brooding has stopped. “But… you always complain about how much you hate waking up early. You even said that you’d sleep through the whole morning every day if you could.”

 

"Yeah?" Lisa slows down as she’s adding some blueberries to their toast. "What about it?”

 

“You can actually do that, but then here you are getting up three hours early for what seems like no reason. Why though?”

 

"I just… I wanted to make things easier for you, you know? I mean, you already work yourself hard enough.” The antsy Thai sounded a bit defensive. “So, I thought that I could at least make sure you have a good breakfast and maybe some company too… Is there anything wrong with that?”

 

Chaeyoung frowned. "But I thought I annoyed you?” She says quietly. “You seem to get fed up whenever I tell you to tidy up after yourself, or turn down the music at night.”

 

Lisa hid her face. "You do kinda annoy me, but you’re definitely not the worst roommate ever. And like… you're also really cute and I want you to be happy all the time, even though I tend to make a mess and I get on your nerves a lot. This is just my way to compensate for all that.”

 

“You think I’m… cute?” Chaeyoung knows that Lisa has said other things, but that’s a part she still couldn’t get past yet.

 

A faint blush then spreads across Lisa’s cheeks as she rubs her neck shyly.

 

“Well, yeah.” She mumbles with a small pout. “Not that I wouldn’t do the same for anyone else, but… I’d probably not try as hard as I’m doing right now, if I didn’t have some kind of ulterior motive.”

 

The Australian looks at her for a long time, not blinking, as she studies her intently. Lisa grows uncomfortable and shifts on her spot, her eyes glued on the French toasts in front of her as she occupies herself by pouring syrup over them.

 

Finally, Chaeyoung stood up and approached her. Prompting Lisa to flinch when she came close enough, with the syrup bottle almost slipping from her hands.

 

“So, when you say an ulterior motive… do you mean something like this?”

 

A dainty hand reached out to cup the side of Lisa’s face, urging her to look at Chaeyoung with widened eyes as the latter leaned in and pressed her soft lips against Lisa’s—just a light, tentative touch, because Chaeyoung isn’t sure if she read the cues right and is simply testing the waters—before slowly retracting a few seconds later.

 

It was a short, yet intoxicating kiss, and Chaeyoung wanted more.

 

Lisa gapes at her, shell-shocked and speechless, but quickly recovers enough to reply with: "Actually, I was thinking more like this.”

 

She then backs Chaeyoung against the counter and forgets about their breakfast still waiting beside them. Her arms trapping the surprised girl between them as she crashes their lips together for a second time. The kiss being nothing like the first, since this one turned out to be messier and far more passionate. So much so that Chaeyoung even moaned into Lisa’s parted mouth as her hands went up to caress the Thai’s prominent jawline.

 

She’s completely taken off-guard by Lisa’s sudden eagerness. Unable to believe that her stupid, but frustratingly gorgeous sweetheart of a roommate is kissing her like it’s the only chance she’ll ever get, before whimpering at the sensation of Lisa’s teeth biting down gently on her bottom lip.

 

Once they pull back, flushed and breathless, Chaeyoung can feel her own face heating up after realizing what they’ve done.

 

“… Should I call in sick today?” She asked, and Lisa grins widely at her suggestion.

 

"Damn right you should, ‘cuz I’m going to do the same.”

 

Chaeyoung couldn’t hold back her own dopey smile as she hastily makes a phone call to her boss. Apparently, she’s found other plans for the weekend. And someone else would have to overlook the project in her stead.

 

The following year, the two decided not to renew the lease for their apartment. Instead, they moved into a one-bedroom condo with a lower rent. After all, Chaeyoung would need the extra money if ever she decides to start saving up for a ring.